Description

The Garretts are everything the Reeds are not. Loud, numerous, messy, affectionate. And every day from her balcony perch, seventeen-year-old Samantha Reed wishes she was one of them...until one summer evening, Jase Garrett climbs her terrace and changes everything. As the two fall fiercely in love, Jase's family makes Samantha one of their own. Then in an instant, the bottom drops out of her world and she is suddenly faced with an impossible decision. Which perfect family will save her? Or is it time she saved herself? A dreamy summer read, full of characters who stay with you long after the story is over.show more

About Huntley Fitzpatrick

Huntley Fitzpatrick has always wanted to be a writer, ever since growing up in a small coastal Connecticut town much like the Stony Bay of her novel My Life Next Door. After college she worked in many fields, including academic publishing and as an editor at Harlequin. Huntley is currently a full-time writer, and mom to six children. She lives in South Dartmouth, Massachusetts.show more

Review quote

Will connect with your heart guaranteed! Lurlene McDaniel, bestselling author of Heart to Heart An almost perfect summer romance. Kirkus Reviews Serious swoonsville. iHeartDaily.com Perfectly captures the heady joys of first love. VOYA A summer romance with depth. The Boston Sunday Globe"show more

Customer reviews

My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick is about Samantha, a seventeen years old girl who lives in a very strict family where everything has to be clean and in its own place. Ten years ago, new neighboors moved into the house next door. The new neighboors are the Garretts: a chaotic and messy family of eight children where laughter and affection is omnipresent. Needless to say that Sam’s mother has always hated this family and it has always been prohibited for Sam and her sister to play with the Garretts. In spite of this interdiction, Sam likes to look at them from afar, until the time she gets close to Jase and becomes part of the family.
This book is written in the point of view of Samantha, the main character. I have to say that I really liked her as a character even though sometimes I would not agree with certain things she would do. Yet, she stands up for her convictions and she is not scared of going through with them, especially by the end of the book, which I admire a lot about her.
If I had to give only one reason to convince someone to read this book, it would be the Garretts. This family is just wonderful! They are full of life and loveable and they are all there for each others. But the cutest of the cutest is George, the four years old boy of the family. His dialogues with Sam are just the funniest thing ever and I laughed out loud a couple of times when reading them.
The writing style was good and easy to read, nothing more, but it certainly did not lower the quality of the book.
I would recommend this book to everyone who enjoys a good temporary read once in a while. I certainly want to check out the author’s other books.show more

by Laurie Brousseau

My Life Next Door is a great read. I liked Samantha as a main character, and I could feel her need to belong. She watches the Garretts, a loud and loving family next door, until she surprisingly gets lured into their life and discovers what her family seems to lack.
I love the life portrayed by the Garretts, lots of noise, talking to one another, depending on each other, and the love that makes a house a home. Mrs. Garrett has the patience of a saint and is the mother that I hope to be. Jase is smart, funny and the more I read about him, the more I liked him. And youngster George is so concerned about life and just wants to be reassured. He says the cutest and funniest things, and makes me want to hug him. I like it when children are featured in books, and Ms. Fitzpatrick writes them wonderfully as she does the rest of the characters in the book.
Tim and Nan were also great characters. They never failed to surprise me and they added real life and depth to the story. Tim went through such a transformation and that is exactly what I love to read about. I was sad at the direction that Nan and Sam's relationship took and I think that there should have been some resolution there.
My Life Next door was exactly what I needed after a streak of darker contemporaries and then some dystopias. It was light at the right times, gave me the feel of summer that I am def. not getting here in real life, and it featured the family.
It was not all light though, it deals with some pretty heavy issues in between the sweet romance between Samantha and Jase. Some issues that I didn't know what I would have done in Sam's place. And the thing that makes Sam's world fall out from under her feet? Something that I never saw coming! My only real complaint is that the story is left pretty open ended, and this is one where I wanted to know exactly what happened with the characters.
Bottom line: Superb cast of characters and a sweet romance in this summery feeling contemporary.show more